Morning Meanderings… Do you like receiving books as gifts?

Last night I had dinner with three wonderful friends. Tired as I was from a busy day… there is nothing like getting together with good friends to catch up, share and laugh. Seriously I could also feel the days stresses just melt away.

We exchanged Christmas presents and among the wonderful gifts I received a beautiful LARGE unabridged book on the Chronicles of Narnia. Now, some people may groan and say “Wow Sheila, you need another book like Minnesota needs more snow!”

And to that I say “pshaw to you.” 😀

Book gifts are my favorite treasures – to me gift books are my friends sending me on an adventure. Within the pages of books I travel to all corners of the world… and occasionally beyond. I may walk alongside pirates, or angels, bounty hunters, or princesses…. I can travel by land, by sea…. I may even be able to fly. I could be eating cheese cake in New York, or steamed clams in New Orleans. And finally… when that final page is turned, I have the memories of new locations, and possibly new friends.

When I give a book as a gift I am saying, “join me in this adventure”, and I can not think of a better gift to give.

The books I receive as gifts hold special places on my book shelves. I carefully place the name of who I received it from on the inside cover and date it so I never forget. If it came with a card, the card is tucked carefully inside.

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88 thoughts on “Morning Meanderings… Do you like receiving books as gifts?”

I completely agree. I love to get books as a gift too. I got that Narnia edition 2 years ago. 😉 As you I always make a note insides to remember who gave it to me. Books are just the best gifts ever. Like a vacation, just not tat expensive.

I LOVE getting books as gifts! The problem is, most of the time I already have the book so most people I know do not buy me books. I do get book gift cards, which is just as great. My mother-in-law gave me a B&N for Christmas and I was able to order three lovely books!

Now there’s a silly question to ask us of all people! 🙂 Actually I have the same problem as others; no one buys me books because they don’t have a clue what I have or don’t have. I do love gift certificates to book stores, though, which solves the whole problem. When I retired, people chipped in on a B&N gift certificate – I felt like I had received a treasure box of doubloons or something.

I do too Aleetha, I often wonder if the received has any idea how much time I take choosing the right book for them… I want them to have the feeling I did when i first read it… to me it really is the gift of adventure… open the cover and off you go! 🙂

I agree – to me receiving a book as a gift is the best thing because the giver would know how much I love books. The shame is that I hardly EVER get books as gifts – people tell me I have too many already, which is true but that’s only because I LOVE them so much. If only people could see that when I tell them “the only thing I really want is books” is actually true – why don’t they believe me? (wahhhhh!)

Lucky you getting that book, Sheila; that is one to treasure for sure.

BW, people do not give me books for the same reason… but that makes them all the more special to me, if someone gives me a book I know they must really have a love for the book already and want to share that with me. 🙂

One year when my daughters were younger my husband took them to the card store to purchase Mother’s Day cards. He let the girls choose whatever card they wanted and got serious sticker shock when he went to pay. At that point he decided he never wanted another card again. So now instead of buying a birthday card we buy a birthday paperback book instead. We’ve done that over 20 years now I guess and it works out great.

book whisperer…you are so right..”you already have so many books you haven’t read”…yeah, but if i have a lot that must mean it’s my passion right?
my girlfriend LOVES starbucks…..but do i not get her some because she already has coffee at home? i’m not buying the gift for me…i’m buying it for the recipiant so it’s whatever they like/love!

How wonderful! I never thought about keeping the card and/or name of the giver with the book. That is actually a very good idea. I think I am going to have to steal that from you. But seriously, books are the best gift.

I need nothing else Tif! 😀 My hubby is amazed how I can always fill time with reading… he is not a reader (I know… shocking right?) He gets restless in the house and I always telling him to pick up a book.

I LOVE getting books as gifts. Though I usually don’t keep track of who gives it to me and when… I think your idea of penning the name of the person who have it to you and the date on which they did is a wonderful idea! I may just take that up myself.

It is nice Kate because whenever you open it you can remember that person. My mom used to always do it for me – any book she gave me she would say inside the cover what occasion it was, date of purchase and where she purchased. Now that she is gone I love seeing that information penned in her own hand and remember….
🙂

I love getting books!!!!! although most people I know would usually give me certificates to buy books as they know I have so many and not sure what I have and don’t have 😉 still, it’s one of the best gifts you could give me. (In fact I request that of people who ask what I want)

For years, my sister and I would both give each other books for Christmas. Each year we specified what book it was that we wanted so there were no books being bought as duplicates in either of our respective libraries. When I moved away , we created “the virtual gift card.” We each spent the money that we would have spent on each other on a Christmas present for ourselves and saved on shipping! Then we do a Skype call and show each other what we got. This year my sister bought me Simply Radical, the new cookbook from Rozanne Gold! I know it sounds a bit weird, but we actually have a lot of fun with it 🙂

I love getting books as gifts! And I like what you said here: “Within the pages of books I travel to all corners of the world … and occasionally beyond.” I like it so much that I’ve put your quote halfway down my sidebar:http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/

I love getting books as gifts but people don’t always know which ones so I get gift certificates. Most of my gift-giving family/friends aren’t “readers”. I have gotten some good recommendations, just not the book

I love the idea of writing who gave you the book and keeping the card inside.

I agree – books are the BEST gifts!! I always give books as gifts and love taking the time to choose just the right one for the recipient. And I love receiving books as gifts, even if my TBR shelf is overflowing (as it always is!) –

I love getting books as gifts (especially from those who peruse my wish list), but I do get a lot of duplicates. I love it though, when someone gets me a book that I didn’t know that I wanted until I read it. I like it when someone is that intuitive about what I like.

I love the topic that you bring forward today. For some reasons, I never have a friend who buy me books even though I specifically said I would love to have one. They seem to think that since I have many books already, it is better for them to get me another thing, but I personally think that it is better to give something you know that person would love rather than giving something that the other person doesn’t have. *sigh* How I wish my friends are more like yours!

Books are the best gift. I often give books and love to receive them. My friends and family have sort of backed off giving me many because I have so many. they have lost track of what I have and what I want.